APH COVID-19 initiative: FindMyApps project helps vulnerable elderly people use technological solutions in order to overcome social isolation

Vulnerable elderly people are even more in social isolation than they were before the Covid-19-outbreak. The FindMyApps project has shifted its focus to the support required to help these people (learn to) use technological solutions such as video calling.

The FindMyApps project, led by Prof. Rose-Marie Dröes, is carried out by APH researchers in the Psychiatry department. The project is for several years been evaluating the effect of tablet use by people with dementia, as a potential tool to facilitate social contact and self-management. This research is on hold because of COVID-19. Instead the research team is using their expertise and experience to make, gather and share guides and instruction films.

David Neal (PhD candidate, FindMyApps (FMA) project Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc | Dept. Psychiatry): "We know from our research that for many people using a tablet for the first time, something that most younger, tech-savvy people take for granted, like searching for, installing and setting up an app for video-calling is by no means intuitive or straight-forward. However, we also know that with the right support, people with cognitive impairment can also learn these things. That’s why we’re sharing these step-by-step guides in our network. You can see what we have so far on a new specially made page of the project website."

David Neal: “I hope if more people are aware of this support, they will feel less confronted by new technology. In this way we expect that they will learn to use these tools more quickly and easily and can benefit from the social activities and support with day to day life that these technological solutions can in theory support.”